Washing machine



Dec; 4, 1923. I 1,476,081

I I C. B. KAVANAUG H WASHING MACHINE Original Filed Aug. 20 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 k 344M044 v afizm z.

Dec. 4, 1923.

c. B. KAVANAUGH WASHING MACHINE Original Filed Aug. 20, 1921 2 Sheets-Skeet 2 \K AN A Patented Dec. 4, 1923.

U ITED; sTArss PATENT or fice."

CHARLES BENJIMAN KAVANAUGH, or LITTLE ROCK-ARKANSAS. f

WASHING lunoninn.

App'lieation filed August 20, 1921, Serial No. 493,968. Renewed May 2t, 1923.

To all whom itimaig concern:

.130; it. knowngthat '1, CHARLES BENJIMAN KAVANAUGH, a citizen of the United States. ,residing atLit-tle Rook, in'the county of Pulaski. and State. of Arkansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Washing Machines, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to washing machines and has for its object to provide a washing machine capable of' imparting a rubbing action ,to the clothes during the revolution of the drum and agitator.

It is another object of theiinvention to provide a washing machine of this character including a: rotatable drum and a rotatable agitator-arranged to rotate in opposite directions and at different speeds, the shaft of the agitator beingconcentrio to both the agitator and the drum.

It is also an object of the invention to provide aw'ashing machine of this character including amain driven shaft, said shaft carrying an agitator and rotatablysupporting a drum, the drum surrounding the agitator, and means, carried by the end of the shaft for rotating the same and the agitator, and meanscarried'byjthe drum and oper ated by the operating means of the shaft for rotating the drum in the opposite direction to that of the agitator and theshaft, but on the. shaft.

It is stilla further object of the invention to provide a washing machine of this character embodying a drum, and an agitator rotatably mounted within the drum, the reservoir having an internal gear connected thereto,.the agitator having anexternal gear connected thereto, and: means carried by. the washing machine. and disposed between said gears for rotating the gears simultaneously in opposite directions.

lViththese and. other objects in view, the invention consists in the improved construction and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more particularly described, fully claimed and illustrated in the accompanying dr'a-wings, in which Figure 1 is an end elevation of a washing Figure 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of Figure 1, and i I Figure 4 is a fragmentary top plan view. ofthe structure shown in, liig'ure 1, thecover of the machine being removed. v Y Referring to the drawings, 4 designates a tank having a roundedibottom 5 and a cover 6. Supports 7 are secured to the ends of g the tank, each support extending from the upper edge to a. pointconsiderably below: the bottom of the tank. That portion of each of the supports adjacent the bottom of the tank is provided with an extension 8, the extension of each support extending to ward each other. Brackets 8 are carried by the extensions, the brackets being arranged to engage the bottom of. the tank.

Disposed within the tank 4 is a'relatively large drum 10'of conventional construction, said drum being made preferably of wood and having a series of perforations for the passage of water"therethrough. The interior of thedrum 10 is provided with aplurality of spacedribs 11 Which extendinwardly of the drum, The end 12 ofthe drum is provided with an opening v15'. A portion ofthe drum is opened to permit clothes to be disposed therein, said opening being closed by a cover 12 which'may be of any conventional construction. A bearing member projects fromone edge of the cover and is adapted to engage the inner surface of the drum, the opposite end of theco-verbeing engaged with pins which. project from the sides of the drum adjacent the opening, A bearing member 14 is disposed over the opening 18 and is provided with a clutch member 15. The end 17 of the drum is pro- 'vided with an opening 18 which registers with the opening 13. A relatively large opening 19 is formed in the end 20.0f the tank, said opening being positioned substan tially centrally of said end. A stufiing box 21 is secured to the outer face of the end 20, said'stufhng boxregistering with the opening 19, a bushing 22 being disposed within the stuffing box. In order to rotate .the drum, a sleeve 23 is-rotatably mounted within the bushing 22, one end of said sleeve having a plate 24 connected thereto, while the opposite end of the sleeve has a clutch member 25 formed thereon by reducing said end portion of the sleeve. -By this novel arrangement, the clutch members 15 and 25 are adapted to engage each other to permit rotation of the agitator with the sleeve and also to facilitate assembling of the machine. Connected to the plate 24 exteriorly of the tank 5 is a relatively large gear 26, said gear having internal teeth 27 and a semi circular slot 28, which is disposed adjacent the periphery of the disc. The internal gear 26 forms the operating gear for the drum the method of operation to be described hereinafter.

Afmain driven shaft 29 is provided. said shaft being adapt-ed to extend through the bore of the sleeve 25, said sleeve thereby providing a bearingfor the shaft. The opposite end of the shaft is disposed in a bearing 30 which is carried by the end 31 of the tank. The opening 18 of the drum being adapted to receive the shaft to rotatably support said ends of the drum. The opening 18 of the end 12 of the drum is likewise adapted to receive the opposite end portion of the shaft to provide a support for the end 12 of the drum. It is of course obvious that the opening in the bearing member 14 clutch member 15, and the sleeve 28, is suiiicient to provide a passage for the shaft 29. An agitator is mounted on the shaft 29 within the drum 10, said agitator having flanges 33 disposed at its ends, while extending longitudinally of the agitator and sup iiorted by the flanges is a plurality of ribs 34 which are disposed at spaced intervals circumferentially. The agitator 82 is secured to the shaft and adapted torotate therewith while the ends of the drum are rotatable on the shaft. The end 35 of the shaft is provided with a key way 86 and adapted to receive a gear 37, 'a key 38 being disposed in the key way 36 for connecting the gear to the shaft. will be noted that the gear 37 is disposed within the gear26 and inannular spaced relation to the internal teeth 27 of the gear 26. As the gear 26 is carried by the sleeve 23; it is free to rotate independently of the I 7 gear'37 and shaft 29.

To operate the drum and agitator. a bear leg 39 is carried by the end 20 of the tank 'exteriorly thereof while secured to the extensions 8 of the supports 7 is a bracket 40 having a bearing 41 positioned centrally thereor, said bealrin being adapted to regis ter with thebeari. A shaft 42 is journ ai-l ed. in the l'learings 39 and 40 and is adapted to support a gear 48. The gear 43 is adapted to be disposed between the teeth of the gears 26 and 37. The length of the gear 43 is greater than the thickness of the gears 26 and 37 so that one end portion of the gear projects beyond the internal and external gears 26 and 3 Secured to the lower portion of the support 7 substantially beneath the bracket 40 is a bracket 44 having registering bearings adapted to receive a shaft 46. Mounted on the shaft is an arm 47 of a segmental gear 48, the segmental gear being adapted'to mesh with the projecting portion of the gear 43, so that rotation of the gear 43 will cause rotation of the internal and external gears 26 and 37. It will be noted that the shaft 42 of the gear 43 extends through the slot 28 of the gear 26 so as to permit rotation of said gear. The ends of the slot 28, however, serve as stops to limit the rotation of the gear by engaging the end portion of the shaft 42. One end portion' of the arm 47 projects below the shaft 46 and is provided with an opening 49 to which any suitablemeans may be connected for oscillating the arm 47- i .7 g

In the'operation of the device, power is transmitted to the gear 48 through the medium of the arm 47 which causes rotation of the gear 43. This :gear in operation meshes with the internal and external gears 26 and 37, and causes rotation of the internal gear in one direction and, rotation of the external gear in the opposite direction. Corresponding movement is imparted to the drum and agitaton thereby rotating the reservoir and agitator in o posits directions. In View of the fact t at the inner surface of the drum exterior surface of the agitator are provided with projecting ribs. a rubbing action will be produced which will remove the dirt from the clothes passing between the agitator and the drum and thereby assure thorough washing of the clothes by treating the clothes the same as if the old form of hand wash board were used,

and doing the work in a'mor'e efficient maningto the amount of rotation desired for the drum. It may be semi-circular, segmental, orrextended to a point almost entirely around'the gear 26, so that a complete revolution of the reservoir is possible if desired. in the present instance, however, the slot is arranged for oscillating movement or a half revolution of the reservoir to a whole revolu tion of the a itator and the novel arran 'ement of the gear 48 permits any means "to be applied thereto for operating the device either by motive power or: manually. This novel constructiom'in view of its simplicity, and compact arrangement, may be'incorporated in the conventional forms of washing machine tanksand drumsnow in use, and treats the clothes the same'as if a hand wash board was used without requiring physical strain on the part of the operator.

What is claimed is I 1. A washing machine of the character described comprising a tank; a bearingsleeve and clutch member rotatabl mounted in one Wall of the tank, a shaft extending through said bearing and having one end portion mounted in the-opposite wall of the tank, an agitator carried by the shaft, a drum surrounding the agitator and rotatably mounted on the shaft, a clutohtmember oarried by the drum for engagement with the first mentioned clutch member, an internal gear carried by the bearing member exterio-rly of the tank, an external gear carried by one end of the shaft,-said external gear being disposed inwardly of the internal gear, and means disposed between said gears for simultaneously rotating said gears in opposite directions.

2. A washing machine of the character described comprising a support and tank, a shaft mounted in said tank, an agitator carried by the shaft, a reservoir freely mounted on the shaft, an internal gear con-" ternal gear having a slot positioned between the teeth of said internal gear and the external gear, a shaft extending through said slot andjournaled in the support of" the V tank, a driving gear carried by said shaft for simultaneously rotating the internal and external gears, the shaft of said driving gear being adapted to limit movement of the internal and external gears upon engage- 

